Friday, May 15, 2015

We love space themed crafts! Do you? Today's Creative Preschool Collaborators themeis space. This means that 4 other bloggers and I will share 5 super fun solar system crafts!So be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to see everyone's ideas!

We've been studying how the earth revolves around the sun. So we made this pie plate solar system game!

Monday, May 11, 2015

As a child I really loved Alexander Calder's sculptures. Whimsical and colorful, they let me see that art can be fun too! Today I'm sharing a really simple paper sculpture project inspired by Calder's large scale metal ones. They take only minutes to whip up and certainly would also make for fun scissor practice with younger kids as well!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Are you looking for an easy, fun, and colorful kids craft? Well, then today's slinky rainbow garland is just up your alley. I've been digging rainbow crafts lately. They're just so fun and happy! And these rainbow garlands are totally rocking my world. I was inspired by Minieco's folded rainbow paper garlands and decided to make some of my own! Chuck loves playing them like an accordion and watching them wiggle around. (Ok, I kinda do too. They're mesmerizing!)

How to Fold and Cut Kirigami Flowers

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Now, I had a lot of trouble naming this craft. These flowers kinda felt like origami... and yet they weren't quite origami because I used scissors to make the designs too. Luckily Mr. Google taught me the term kirigami. It's a Japanese term that basically describes origami that also involves paper cutting too. Bingo! So cool right?

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Did you know there were such things as funicular trains? I learned about them from a train book that my son and I read together. Apparently these trains are used to move people up and down steep cliffs. Two cars are attached via a cable and one car moves up the mountain as another moves down. Now of course, you know me.... I just had to try making a funicular train for our lego minifigures.... especially after we enjoyed playing with our cardboard conveyor beltso much!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Lately I've just been digging Origami projects. There's just something so relaxing about folding paper to create lovely things. For today's post I wanted to share a recent origami project- these folded and cut origami stars. They are really, really beautiful and of course, super simple to make! (I'm an origami newbie, so if I say it's easy... it's totally doable!)

How to Fold and Cut Origami Stars

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So keep reading to see how I made them.

Oh yeah. Guess what? I took the plunge and actually shot videos of me folding the paper and explaining my process. I know, I know. Video is a completely new medium to me and I still have a lot of kinks to work out (like how to make things brighter!) But, I think the videos explain the process better than the photos. So I've included them in the post.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Hello friends! Today I wanted to share this really neat fluttering butterfly craft that I recently did with Chuck. We cut out, painted, and folded butterflies that flutter when you move them! (We also made some lovely butterfly notebooks too!) The whole process entertained Chuck for quite awhile, so I thought other kids might like it too!

Fluttering Butterfly Craft

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I know it's winter, and most people are doing winter crafts with their kids, but honestly, I just haven't had the heart to do so. Our weather is right now in the 60s which is totally bizarre to me. I'm used to cold, wet, or snowy winters.... not cool, sunny ones. It's very weird ... but I'm thankful for the sun and warmth!

This butterfly craft was inspired by our local butterfly grove. Nearby our home is a plot of land where monarch butterflies migrate to during the winter. How neat is that? Last week we hiked up to the butterfly grove and saw thousands of butterflies, clumped together in tree branches. It was a pretty amazing sight. (And I WISH I could have taken photos of them, but they were just too high up to get a decent shot.) One of the other children at the park found a dead butterfly on the ground and showed everyone. Chuck really wanted to find one of his own, but we never did. So I came up with this craft so that he could have his very own fluttering butterfly.

Looking for kids' butterfly books?

This would definitely be a great craft to go along with any of these great butterfly books!

I received a copy of this book to review... and I was pretty nervous. A whole book focused on being generous and serving others like Jesus? Ehhh... I worried that I'd finish the book feeling super guilty because my family and I weren't doing enough.

After reading the very first page, I saw how wrong my fears were.

Amy is honest, funny, and humble. She shares her own family's struggles with generosity, and how God slowly changed their views of service. She also offers some really great ways the whole family (including the kids!) can serve and love their communities and the world.

After reading her book I felt really encouraged to rethink my views on service and generosity too. I didn't need to be a missionary or the president of a non-profit to make an impact and help out my community. I could do small things with love.

And now here's where the pumpkin face comes in. I initially made Chuck this changeable cardboard pumpkin face (inspired by Halloween and this face from Mr. Printables) as a way to help him learn about his emotions.

See how the facial features change? As we played with the toy, Chuck began relating to the pumpkin as his friend. It kind of took on a life of its own. We talked about how Mr. Pumpkin looked sad, happy, surprised, or scared. We then also starting having conversations about how we could help friends that might be scared or upset.

And that's when a light bulb went on in my head. These small, everyday conversations were also equipping Chuck to have compassion for others... and do small things with love. Chuck's only 3, but he too can have compassion and serve others too.

(And in case you want to make your own changeable pumpkin face, simply cut out the facial features and pumpkin from corrugated cardboard. Then, paint them. Then, drill holes through the pieces and use fasteners to attach everything together.)

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Today I'm going to share with you how I made a record player using materials found around our apartment. *pauses* Wait, wait, I know what you're thinking, "What are you doing Leslie? A DIY record player? Why would you even try to build one in the first place?" Well, friends, before I answer those questions, let me first show you the finished product:

Kid Science: How to Make a Record Player

Yes. This baby plays. Yes. I have a video of it playing a record down below. And yes, I will share the inspiration behind this fun project!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Lately Chuck and I have been infatuated with things that fly. That's why we made our cardboard space shuttle a couple of days ago. So today I took things one step further to create a handmade toy that actually did fly. Modeled after a plastic toy that hubby brought back from one of his trips, here's our version of a DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy.

DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy

It's pretty neat that the toy actually does fly. You simply spin it between both hands and the copter flies out and floats to the ground. Keep reading to see how we made it (and a video of it flying!)

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A couple of weeks ago we visited our nearby Science Center and Chuck fell in love with a small space shuttle toy. Of course, the wheels in my head began whirring and I knew that we could easily transform a paper towel roll into our very own rocket ship. So after a couple days of planning, cutting, and painting, we are now the proud owners of two cardboard roll space shuttles:

Cardboard Space Shuttle Craft

Want a ride to the moon on your very own cardboard roll space shuttle? Then keep reading to see how we made them (template included)!

Monday, March 10, 2014

I've been on a crapty DIY technology kick lately. A couple of weeks ago, I made this set of DIY Cardboard roll iPod Speakers. After making those speakers, I wondered if I could take the idea one step further. Could I somehow make an iPod projector out of everyday materials?

After searching online, I saw that others had some success with a creating a DIYiPodprojector out of a cardboard box and magnifying glass. So, of course, I had to try it for myself.

Monday, October 21, 2013

We just got back yesterday from our trip to visit hubby in Pennsylvania. He's been down there for work so we thought we'd hang out with him and enjoy the scenery.

Here are some photos from downtown Lancaster:

Lancaster's Central Market was hustling, bustling, and full of yummy foods!

Then, we visited Cherry Crest Adventure Farm. It was amazingbecause there were tons of fun activities to do and lots of yummy baked goods and apple cider to sample. (I wish we lived closer so that we could go back....)

Chuck loved riding the "choo choo" wagon ride!

Yummy freshly roasted corn

My first whoopie pie (Apparently these sweet treats originated from Lancaster county. Legend has it that children yelled "Whoopie!" when they found these baked treats in their lunch pails.)

Monday, September 23, 2013

This weekend we visited the Maker Faire held at the New York Hall of Science. It's a yearly two-day festival where tons of "makers" (crafters, hobbyists, tech lovers, engineers, etc..) showcase what they've made.

The faire is advertised as the "greatest show and tell on earth." Oh boy, it definitely lived up to that title. We visited the faire for about four hours... and only saw about about
half of the exhibits. Crazy, right? Not going to lie...it was difficult maneuvering through all the exhibits with a super active two year old... but I really am thankful that we were able to attend. It was truly awesome to see so many people passionate about making things with their hands. I left feeling quite inspired (and exhausted...oof).

Friday, September 20, 2013

Currently Chuck and I have been reading books about the moon and space travel. He loves the Berenstein Bears "On the Moon" book and Eric Carle's "Papa, please get the moon for me."

So with that in mind, I made him a little cardboard spaceship climbing toy. I found some lovely examples online and one of the mommies in our toddler group made a very simple version out of paper. So, I based my design off of these.

To operate the toy, you simply attach the moon to the wall or a doorknob. Then, you pull the two brown tabs apart and your spaceship shoots straight to the moon.

Materials:

Cardboard box

Scissors

String

Paint and paint brushes

Mod Podge and brush (to protect your paint job)

Packing tape

Straw

Directions:
This was a really quick and simple toy to make.
1. Cut out your spaceship, moon, and two small rectangular stopper pieces out of cardboard.
2. Paint your spaceship and moon.
3. Once the paint dries, protect your paint job with Mod Podge.
4. Cut your straw in half. Tape it to the back of your spaceship.
5. Fold your long piece of string in half. Tape the middle of the string to the back of your moon. Then, string your two strands through the two straws. Tape the ends of string to your cardboard rectangles so that the spaceship doesn't fall off.

Here's a shot of the mechanics:

And that's it. Simple to make, and simple to use. You don't even have to make a spaceship and a rocket. What about an alien spaceship and earth? Or a basketball player and a basket? The possibilities are endless.

We went this route, and Chuck got a kick out of sending his cardboard rocket to the moon.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

We live across the street from a playground, dog run, and basketball court. Lately, Chuck's been spending half of his time on the playground and half of his time on the basketball court.

At first he just stood on the sidelines. He'd point at the players and chant, "Basketball, basketball." But now he insists on bringing his tiny basketball out and dribbling on the court...with the teenage boys. Eek!

And of course, like any good basketball player, he diligently practices his dribbling at home too...

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Sometimes when Chuck naps (and the dishes are washed, and dinner is cooking on the stove), I get the urge to make stuff. Yesterday I pulled out a whole bunch of strange ingredients and made this blue bouncy ball.

In case you didn't know, Chuck has now moved on from bubbles. Bubbles are out. Bouncy balls are in. It's so cute, he sometimes even requests to sleep with a ball (or two) at night. Hrmm.. I wonder what he dreams about.

To make this homemade bouncy ball, I simply combined glue, food coloring, Borax, corn starch, and warm water according to these directions. Then, voila, a bouncy ball emerged within minutes. (With my unkempt hair and nails, I felt very much like a mad-scientist while stirring the ingredients together... muah ha ha ha)

It wasn't quite as bouncy as the store bought ones and tended to lose its shape over time. (But no problem, we just remolded it back into a sphere.) Here's a video proving that it did indeed bounce:

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Hubby always reminds me that the "best camera is the one that's on you." Well, I don't often have a camera on me (hence the rare shots of Chuck nowadays), so I'm thankful that other people do. Here's a little video that a friend made during a recent park outing. It was a super sunny and warm day, just perfect for splashing in the fountain with a good friend.